Our first crop of hardneck certified organic Georgian Crystal garlic was planted yesterday evening. below is a snapshot taken just after we finished planting. Next thing to do is to get some mulch placed. Good night precious garlic, hopefully we will see you next spring.

For our very first cropping season we are going to use a straw mulch. We have secured straw bales from a local neighbor. I am estimating that the straw bales will be 18″ x 14″ x 4′ in size. It is desired to have at least 4 inches of straw mulch covering our garlic for the winter. We are another step closer in our preparation for planting. In our next post I hope to have some pictures of our planting site and soil preparation efforts.

We are just a tad bit excited waiting for our first year’s shipment of garlic seed.

Picture of Hardneck Garlic from the Seed Savers Exchange Website

For the 2016 garlic crop year we have chosen to purchase our seed garlic from the Seed Savers Exchange. Seed Savers Exchange is located near Decorah, Iowa and was founded in 1975. The mission of the Seeds Savers Exchange as listed on their website is,

The 890-acre farm near Decorah is home to thousands of heirloom garden varieties, and it has a beautiful visitors center to stop and see if you are ever in the area. Check out their webpage here: http://www.seedsavers.org/

We expect to receive our shipment of seed garlic sometime in late September. The Exchange has produced a nice planting guide that I have included here.